Elephants sweep Agan while Andra wins 11th

Striking early and often, the Brother Elephants easily swept the First Securities Agan in last week's three-game series.

The heart of the Elephants order was unstoppable as each player collected a game-MVP honor for their outstanding display of offensive power. The Elephants averaged nearly nine runs per game.

In the Elephants' 14-5 win on Thursday, Peng Cheng-ming (彭政閔) had a 4-for-5 night with two homers and six RBIs, including a grand slam in the off of Agan starter Claudio Galva.

It was the second time this season that Peng had cleared the bases with one swing and the fifth in only three seasons with the CPBL.

Nakagomi Sin to register his seventh victory of the season, as he fanned 10 Agan hitters over seven innings.

Game 2 of the series on Friday featured a batting clinic by Elephants All-Star centerfielder Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠), whose 3-for-4 performance helped jumpstart the Elephants offense in the 3-1 triumph and game-MVP honors for Chen.

In a classic pitching duel between two Latin American right-handers -- Panamanian Miguel Martinez for the Elephants and Dominican Republic native Gabriel Ozura for the Agan, the Elephants drew first blood on first baseman Tsai Fong-an's (蔡豐安) slow grounder to short that brought home a runner from third.

The Agan fought back and cutting a 2-0 lead by half in the top of the eighth with four straight singles. A tough base-running mistake by right-fielder Lu Jung-hsiung (呂俊雄) and left-fielder Huang Long-yi's (黃龍義) one-hopper to short that resulted in an inning-ending double-play prevented the Agan from putting more than one run on the board.

The series finale in Tienmu on Sunday turned into the "Chen Huai-shan (陳懷山) show" as the Elephants third baseman went 3-for-3 with a homer and six RBIs. Chen's 6-for-9 performance with seven RBIs promptly ended his two-week long slump.

Elephants starting pitcher Jonathan Hurst yielded only one run on seven hits in as many innings for his 10th win of the season.

Huang Kwei-yu's (黃貴裕) of the Chinatrust Whales hosted his own batting demonstration as he went 6-for-10 with two dingers and four RBIs in the three-game series against the Makoto Gida.

Huang earned back-to-back game-MVP honors on Thursday and Saturday.

The series began with a 5-4 Whales victory in Hsinchuang, where Whales hitters tied the league record for most doubles in an inning with four. Ace starter Nakayama Hiroaki got his ninth win of the season after closer Maximo Rosa nearly blew the 5-3 lead in the ninth, yielding a run on a single and a double.

The Whales took Game 2 of the series in Tienmu 7-3 behind starter Kuo Lee Chien-fu's (郭李建夫) five innings of solid effort

Closer Rosa earned his second straight save of the week.

On Sunday's finale in Hsinchu, the Gida scored nine runs against a Whales staff that sent four different hurlers to the mound in a losing cause.

In Taichung on Friday, Jeff Andra of the Sinon Bulls became the first 11-game winner of the season as he outpitched Lions rookie sensation Pan Wei-luen (潘威倫) in a 2-0 Bulls victory. Andra allowed four hits in seven innings before leaving the game in front of a standing ovation.

Reliever Ramon Morel got three outs in the ninth for his league-high 21st save of the season.

The Lions finally rallied on Saturday as they beat the Bulls 7-3.

The Lions struck first against Bulls strikeout artist Osvaldo Martinez in the top of second on right fielder Chen Cheng-shian's (陳政賢) two-run bomb.